1,525 research outputs found
The impact of confounding on the associations of different adiposity measures with the incidence of cardiovascular disease: a cohort study of 296 535 adults of white European descent
Aims:
The data regarding the associations of body mass index (BMI) with cardiovascular (CVD) risk, especially for those at the low categories of BMI, are conflicting. The aim of our study was to examine the associations of body composition (assessed by five different measures) with incident CVD outcomes in healthy individuals.
Methods and results:
A total of 296 535 participants (57.8% women) of white European descent without CVD at baseline from the UK biobank were included. Exposures were five different measures of adiposity. Fatal and non-fatal CVD events were the primary outcome. Low BMI (≤18.5 kg m−2) was associated with higher incidence of CVD and the lowest CVD risk was exhibited at BMI of 22–23 kg m−2 beyond, which the risk of CVD increased. This J-shaped association attenuated substantially in subgroup analyses, when we excluded participants with comorbidities. In contrast, the associations for the remaining adiposity measures were more linear; 1 SD increase in waist circumference was associated with a hazard ratio of 1.16 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.13–1.19] for women and 1.10 (95% CI 1.08–1.13) for men with similar magnitude of associations for 1 SD increase in waist-to-hip ratio, waist-to-height ratio, and percentage body fat mass.
Conclusion:
Increasing adiposity has a detrimental association with CVD health in middle-aged men and women. The association of BMI with CVD appears more susceptible to confounding due to pre-existing comorbidities when compared with other adiposity measures. Any public misconception of a potential ‘protective’ effect of fat on CVD risk should be challenged
The Minimal Moose for a Little Higgs
Recently a new class of theories of electroweak symmetry breaking have been
constructed. These models, based on deconstruction and the physics of theory
space, provide the first alternative to weak-scale supersymmetry with naturally
light Higgs fields and perturbative new physics at the TeV scale. The Higgs is
light because it is a pseudo-Goldstone boson, and the quadratically divergent
contributions to the Higgs mass are cancelled by new TeV scale ``partners'' of
the {\em same} statistics. In this paper we present the minimal theory space
model of electroweak symmetry breaking, with two sites and four link fields,
and the minimal set of fermions. There are very few parameters and degrees of
freedom beyond the Standard Model. Below a TeV, we have the Standard Model with
two light Higgs doublets, and an additional complex scalar weak triplet and
singlet. At the TeV scale, the new particles that cancel the 1-loop quadratic
divergences in the Higgs mass are revealed. The entire Higgs potential needed
for electroweak symmetry breaking--the quartic couplings as well as the
familiar negative mass squared--can be generated by the top Yukawa coupling,
providing a novel link between the physics of flavor and electroweak symmetry
breaking.Comment: 15 pages. References added. Included clarifying comments on the
origin of quartic couplings, and on power-counting. More elegant model for
generating Higgs potential from top Yukawa coupling presente
Brane World Susy Breaking from String/M Theory
String and M-theory realizations of brane world supersymmetry breaking
scenarios are considered in which visible sector Standard Model fields are
confined on a brane, with hidden sector supersymmetry breaking isolated on a
distant brane. In calculable examples with an internal manifold of any volume
the Kahler potential generically contains brane--brane non-derivative contact
interactions coupling the visible and hidden sectors and is not of the no-scale
sequestered form. This leads to non-universal scalar masses and without
additional assumptions about flavor symmetries may in general induce dangerous
sflavor violation even though the Standard Model and supersymmetry branes are
physically separated. Deviations from the sequestered form are dictated by bulk
supersymmetry and can in most cases be understood as arising from exchange of
bulk supergravity fields between branes or warping of the internal geometry.
Unacceptable visible sector tree-level tachyons arise in many models but may be
avoided in certain classes of compactifications. Anomaly mediated and gaugino
mediated contributions to scalar masses are sub-dominant except in special
circumstances such as a flat or AdS pure five--dimensional bulk geometry
without bulk vector multiplets.Comment: Latex, 83 pages, references adde
Persistent and Transient Blank Field Sources
Blank field sources (BFS) are good candidates for hosting dim isolated
neutron stars (DINS). The results of a search of BFS in the ROSAT HRI images
are revised. We then focus on transient BFS, arguing that they belong to a
rather large population. The perspectives of future research on DINS are then
discussed.Comment: 3 pages, 0 figures. Paper presented at the Conference "Isolated
Neutron Stars: from the interior to the surface", London, April 2006.
Astrophysics and Space Science, in pres
Associations between blood sex steroid concentrations and risk of major adverse cardiovascular events in healthy older women in Australia: a prospective cohort substudy of the ASPREE trial
Background: Blood testosterone concentrations in women decline during the reproductive years and reach a nadir in the seventh decade, after which concentrations increase and are restored to those of reproductive-aged women early in the eighth decade. We aimed to establish the association between the concentration of testosterone in the blood and risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and all-cause mortality in healthy older women. Methods: SHOW was a prospective cohort substudy of the longitudinal randomised ASPREE trial. Eligible participants were women aged at least 70 years from Australia with unimpaired cognition, no previous MACE, and a life expectancy of at least 5 years. Participants who were receiving hormonal or steroid therapy were ineligible for inclusion. We measured serum concentrations of sex steroids with liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry and of SHBG with immunoassay. We compared lower concentrations of sex hormones with higher concentrations using four quartiles. Primary endpoints were risk of MACE and all-cause mortality, the associations of which with sex steroid concentrations were assessed using Cox proportional hazards regression that included age, body-mass index, smoking status, alcohol consumption, diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, impaired renal function, and treatment allocation in the ASPREE trial (aspirin vs placebo). ASPREE is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01038583. Findings: Of the 9180 women recruited to the ASPREE trial between March 10, 2010, and Dec 31 2014, 6358 participants provided sufficient biobank samples at baseline and 5535 were included in the final analysis. Median age at entry was 74·0 years (IQR 71·7–77·7). During a median 4·4 years of follow-up (24 553 person-years), 144 (2·6%) women had a first MACE (incidence 5·9 per 1000 person-years). During a median 4·6 years of follow-up (3·8–5·6), 200 women died (7·9 per 1000 person-years). In the fully adjusted models, higher concentrations of testosterone were associated with a lower incidence of MACE (quartile 4 vs quartile 1: hazard ratio 0·57 [95% CI 0·36–0·91]; p=0·02), as were higher concentrations of DHEA (quartile 4 vs quartile 1: 0·61 [0·38–0·97]; p=0·04). For oestrone, a lower risk of MACE was seen for concentrations in quartile 2 only, compared with quartile 1 (0·55 [0·33–0·92]; p=0·02). In fully adjusted models, no association was seen between SHBG and MACE, or between any hormone or SHBG and all-cause mortality. Interpretation: Blood concentrations of testosterone and DHEA above the lowest quartile in older women were associated with a reduced risk of a first-ever MACE. Given that the physiological effects of DHEA are mediated through its steroid metabolites, if the current findings were to be replicated, trials investigating testosterone therapy for the primary prevention of ischaemic cardiovascular disease events in older women would be warranted. Funding: The National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, US National Institute on Aging, the Victorian Cancer Agency, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, and Monash University
Commensurate and Incommensurate Vortex Lattice Melting in Periodic Pinning Arrays
We examine the melting of commensurate and incommensurate vortex lattices
interacting with square pinning arrays through the use of numerical
simulations. For weak pinning strength in the commensurate case we observe an
order-order transition from a commensurate square vortex lattice to a
triangular floating solid phase as a function of temperature. This floating
solid phase melts into a liquid at still higher temperature. For strong pinning
there is only a single transition from the square pinned lattice to the liquid
state. For strong pinning in the incommensurate case, we observe a multi-stage
melting in which the interstitial vortices become mobile first, followed by the
melting of the entire lattice, consistent with recent imaging experiments. The
initial motion of vortices in the incommensurate phase occurs by an exchange
process of interstitial vortices with vortices located at the pinning sites. We
have also examined the vortex melting behavior for higher matching fields and
find that a coexistence of a commensurate pinned vortex lattice with an
interstitial vortex liquid occurs while at higher temperatures the entire
vortex lattice melts. For triangular arrays at incommensurate fields higher
than the first matching field we observe that the initial vortex motion can
occur through a novel correlated ring excitation where a number of vortices can
rotate around a pinned vortex. We also discuss the relevance of our results to
recent experiments of colloidal particles interacting with periodic trap
arrays.Comment: 8 figure
Lattice swelling and modulus change in a helium-implanted tungsten alloy: X-ray micro-diffraction, surface acoustic wave measurements, and multiscale modelling
Using X-ray micro-diffraction and surface acoustic wave spectroscopy, we measure lattice swelling and elastic modulus changes in a W-1% Re alloy after implantation with 3110 appm of helium. An observed lattice expansion of a fraction of a per cent gives rise to an order of magnitude larger reduction in the surface acoustic wave velocity. A multiscale model, combining elasticity and density functional theory, is applied to the interpretation of observations. The measured lattice swelling is consistent with the relaxation volume of self-interstitial and helium-filled vacancy defects that dominate the helium-implanted material microstructure. Larger scale atomistic simulations using an empirical potential confirm the findings of the elasticity and density functional theory model for swelling. The reduction of surface acoustic wave velocity predicted by density functional theory calculations agrees remarkably well with experimental observations.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (CHE-1111557
Health-Related Quality of Life and All-Cause Mortality among Older Healthy Individuals in Australia and the United States:A Prospective Cohort Study
Published online: 3 January 2021PURPOSE: Previous research has demonstrated that lower health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is associated with higher morbidity and mortality, especially in-patient groups. The association of HRQoL with all-cause mortality in community samples requires further investigation. This study aimed to examine whether HRQoL predicts all-cause mortality in older healthy community-dwelling people from Australia and the United States (U.S.) enrolled in the Aspirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly (ASPREE) trial. We also explored whether this association varies by gender or country. METHOD: A prospective cohort of 19,106 individuals aged 65-98Â years, who were without a dementia diagnosis or a known major life-limiting disease, and completed the 12-item short-form-HRQoL at recruitment (2010-2014). They were followed until June 2017. Cox proportional-hazard models were used to determine the association between the physical (PCS) and mental component scores (MCS) of HRQoL and all-cause mortality, adjusting for sociodemographic factors, health-related behaviours and clinical measures. Hazards ratios were estimated for every 10-unit increase in PCS or MCS. RESULTS: There were 1052 deaths over a median 4.7-years (interquartile range 3.6-5.7) of follow-up, with 11.9 events per 1000 person-years. Higher PCS was associated with lower all-cause mortality (HR 0.83, 95% CI 0.77, 0.89) in the entire sample, while higher MCS was associated with lower mortality among U.S. participants only (HR 0.78, 95% CI 0.63, 0.95). Gender differences in the association of either PCS or MCS with mortality were not observed. CONCLUSION: Our large study provides evidence that HRQoL is inversely associated with all-cause mortality among initially healthy older people.Aung Zaw Zaw Phyo, Joanne Ryan, David A. Gonzalez-Chica, Robyn L. Woods, Christopher M. Reid, Mark R. Nelson ... et al
Vortex Solid-Liquid Transition in BiSrCaCuO with a High Density of Strong Pins
The introduction of a large density of columnar defects in %underdoped
BiSrCaCuO crystals does not, at sufficiently low
vortex densities, increase the irreversibility line beyond the first order
transition (FOT) field of pristine crystals. At such low fields, the flux line
wandering length behaves as in pristine
%BiSrCaCuO crystals. Next, vortex positional
correlations along the --axis in the vortex Bose glass at fields above the
FOT are smaller than in the low--field vortex solid. Third, the
Bose-glass-to-vortex liquid transition is signaled by a rapid decrease in
c-axis phase correlations. These observations are understood in terms of the
``discrete superconductor'' model.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures Submitted to Phys. Rev. B Rapid Comm. 16-1-2004
Revised version 18-3-200
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